The Wild Thornberrys Movie rewrite
by DarkHououmon
Summary: No other way to describe this except that it's a rewrite...my version.. of The Wild Thornberrys Movie. ^_^; A more darkish and violent version of the PG-rated movie released in 2002.


Disclaimer: I do not own The Wild Thornberrys, the movie, or any of the characters. 

Note: I had this idea stuck with me for a while. I've been watching the movie over and over again, and kept thinking, "What if it was different?" I had some scenes that I was rather disappointed with. So here's my version of the movie. This is my work, but it's also just a rewrite of the movie. Some scenes are the same, and some things have been changed. I've still kept the song that plays when Eliza goes over to see her cheetah friends play. I don't know the name of it, though. ^^;   


On with the story! ^^;   
  


THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE-REWRITE   
Story by DarkHououmon   
  
  
  


The sun was shining brightly over the Savannah horizon. The blades of grass glistened for a few seconds, and then a huge shadow overcame them. The stalks brushed to the side gently as a figure moved through the grass, its eyes fixated on the animals ahead: A herd of gazelle. The gazelle lowered their heads, and gnashed at the rough, dry grass at their feet. They never once heard the figure stalking them. As the figure came into view, its orange spotted coat flashed through the grass. It was a female cheetah. She snarled and leapt into view as she found her target. The gazelle took one look at her, and begin running off into the distance. The cheetah wasn't going to be fooled so easily by the zig-zagging. She zig-zagged along with them, nearly falling to her side as she did so. Then, having selected her weak target, she closed in... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Now Phaedra the elephant will walk the circle of destiny!" A young voice sounded out. A young girl, with red pigtails, glasses, and braces, was perched on top of an adolescent female elephant. Behind her was a chimpanzee, gray-furred and wearing clothes. The elephant trumpeted and reared on her hind legs. The chimp squealed in terror as he slipped down towards the back end of the elephant. He grabbed onto the tail of Phaedra, and climbed back up, wrinkling his nose in the process. "Circle of destiny indeed!" He grabbed onto the girl. "Eliza, your friend smells, and those tusks could poke an eye out!" The 12 year old slowly shook her head and tugged at her white short sleeve. "Dar, calm down. There's nothing to worry about." She turned back to her elephant friend. "Phaedra, could you take us over there?" She pointed at a group of trees just a few feet in front of them. 

Phaedra nodded her head as she turned her direction and headed that way. But she suddenly stopped, and grinned. "Let me show you how our mom makes us go." She said as she raised her truck over her head. "She nudges the back of our necks with her trunk." She showed Eliza how it was done by gently tapping the back of her elephant neck. Eliza cocked her head in confusion, and gave it a try. She gently kicked Phaedra, and asked, "Is that right?" "Yeah!" The elephant said with delight. She then looked behind her, and said, "If she wanted us to turn around, she would just nudge one side." Eliza repeated what she had done earlier, this time with just one foot. She nudged the back of Phaedra's ears, and sure enough she slowly turned around. Eliza laughed in amazement. "Wow!" 

Darwin, however, was not having fun. He snarled, "Yeah, rub the elephant's ears and it turns. Fascinating!" He then rubbed his back and looked up at Eliza with weary eyes. "Can we go now? My butt's gone to sleep!" The young girl glared at her other friend. She didn't want to leave so soon. But after seeing just how worn out Darwin was from being away from camp for hours, she shrugged, and decided to leave. "Okay." Phaedra lowered herself to the ground, and allowed Eliza and Darwin to hop off. "Good-bye, Eliza. Good-bye, chimp." She gave Eliza a hug with her trunk, and Darwin started walking ahead towards the direction of camp. He sniffed the air, and smiled delightfully. "Ohh, Eliza, is that your grandmumsy's cooking?" But when he noticed that the girl wasn't following him anymore, he stopped in his tracks. "It's too quiet, Darwin." The girl stood frozen, confused. "Something's wrong..." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Back at the Commvee, Nigel was sitting down having some tea with Cordelia. She had stopped by to visit the family for a few weeks. She still didn't agree to this outdoor life, but she thought she might as well find out what their life was like first hand. She continued to drink her tea as her son spoke to her. "Shame you couldn't stay with us longer, mumsy." The old woman shook her head. "Oh, no no... 2 weeks is more than enough. Besides, you know that your father is quite daft when left on his own for a while. For all we know, he's searched the entire estate for his reading glasses." She drank more of her tea. Nigel chuckled, and rubbed his chin. "Good thing I take after you, eh?" He then turned to his wife, Marianne. The blonde woman was fixing the engine of the Commvee. It needed a tune-up badly. "Marianne?" She heard her husband call, and she turned around. The man continued, "Did you find my binoculars?" 

Marianne forced a chuckle. "Try around your neck!" She said knowingly, and the dark redhead man looked down. He slapped his forehead, and laughed nervously as he saw his binoculars wrapped around his neck. "How silly of me..." Then the Commvee door swung open. A blonde teenager came out, holding a wild boy wearing spotted pants. "Bad news: Wild boy here used the teapots to store his grub worms!" She dropped him with a disgusted look on his face. The boy, Donnie, reached into his pants and pulled out a handful of squirmy worms, and squealed wildly. Nigel and Cordelia took one look at the worms, and then Cordelia spat out her tea. Nigel swallowed what he head, and nervously placed the rest down. But before they could say anything, a familiar voice shouted at them. 

"STAMPEDE!!!" Eliza and Darwin came running into camp. Marianne looked behind them, and saw a herd of gazelle heading straight for them! "Battle stations, everyone!" The family scrambled on top of the Commvee to get away from the frightened animals. Cordelia was going to climb up with them, but then she remembered her tea. Without thinking, she turns around to grab the teacup when suddenly, the gazelle started running past her. Nigel was quite surprised, and shouted, "Don't worry! They're not carnivores. The gazelle are quite harmless....unless you're a blade of grass." He forced a chuckle. This didn't make Cordelia feel any better. A gazelle suddenly rammed into her, and she slipped right on its back. She was sitting facing its rear end, and widened her eyes in shock. The gazelle then reared up on its hind legs and she slipped back onto the ground. 

She slowly picked herself up as the gazelle disappeared. Before she could take another step, another figure dashed towards her. A cheetah! Cordelia remained frozen in terror, and closed her eyes tightly. The cheetah wasn't interested in her. She leaped over the shaking woman and continued her pursuit for the gazelle. Eliza caught glimpse of her, and recognized her as an old friend. "It's Akela, Dar!" She slowly climbed off of the Commvee with everyone else. Cordelia, on her knees, was still shaking from the whole experience. Nigel helped his mother up, and sat her down. She muttered, "Does this happen often?" There was a mixed response. Some said yes, and other said no. "Well, I hope so." She said towards the ones who answered yes. Donnie walked over, and put some grub worms into her drink while she wasn't looking. She slowly sipped her tea, and then felt something squirming in her mouth. 

She slowly looked into her cup, and saw the worms. Her face turning green, she immediately spat out the worms, and shuddered. "Donald, that was uncalled for!" She continued to spit out the nasty taste of the maggots. She opened an eye to see the young 12 year old and the silly chimpanzee heading out towards the direction where the cheetah had run. Gasping, she called out, "Elizabeth!" The girl stopped abruptly to listen. "Have we forgotten about that cheetah?" Thinking of something quick, the girl quickly shouted back, "Don't worry! We do this all the time!" Turning to her chimp friend, she said, "Come on, Darwin." With that, the 12 year old girl and grey-furred chimpanzee dashed off into the horizon towards large rocky cliff-like structures. Cordelia put her hands on her hips, and shook her head. "Does your sister always do this?" Debbie, both arms folded up against her chest, nodded. "This, and talk like a monkey and dress like a geek." She rolled her eyes, and turned away. "You get used to it." 

Debbie then eyed the Congo-Com. The motorcycle was sitting next to the Commvee. It shared the same basic colors of the Commvee, being yellow and black striped. It looked like a cool ride, but Debbie growled. "When we finally get something cool, I have to be grounded!" Her grandmother rubbed her hands together. "Well of course. I understand that you tied young Donald to a _termite_ mound." She looked on with disgust at the thought of it. Debbie scoffed, and looked at the wild child. Donnie was sitting on the table, eating some kind of....brown stuff that was in a bowl. The teen didn't even want to know. "Hey, he was happy." Donnie buried his face in the brown substance, and let out a wail. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**_You don't have to be old to be wise_**   
**_A bird doesn't wait 'til he dies to fly_**   
**_And emptiness is not for me_**   
**_Fill me up and spill over me_**

Behind the tall rocks of the plains, 3 small cubs were chasing each other around. They weren't adolescent, but they were still much to young for living on their own. The two females romped at each other, while their brother, who had a tuft of hair sticking straight up, pounced around. Then their play was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice. "Hello?" Eliza climbed down from the rocks that hid them from the world. "It's Eliza!" A female cub shouted as she and her siblings ran over as quickly as they could, and greeted their human friend. Eliza giggled, and began petting the two female cheetah cubs. "You've gotten so big!" She looked around, a bit confused. "Where's Tally?" The male cub was nowhere in sight. Darwin's head poked from behind the rocks. 

**_See your soul, open your eyes_**   
**_From inside, your soul comes shinin'_**

"Here I am!" The male cub ran over to Eliza, boasting about his speed. "You should see me run. I'm really fast now!" Darwin started to climb down from the rocks. But his nervousness was definitely there. He was a chimpanzee. For all he knew, the cubs saw him as a walking snack pack. "Fast?" He squeaked as he slid down the smooth surface of one of the stones. "As in you can outrun defenseless chimps?" Eliza motioned her hand towards Darwin. "You guys remember Darwin, right?" Just then an idea popped in Eliza's mind. It'd be the perfect thing to do to pass the time! She was feeling bored, and the cheetahs had gotten faster. But just how fast? "I know! Let's have a race!" She shouted with glee at her friends. "Yeah!" The cubs cheered in unison, becoming excited to start. But their cheering was cut short by the voice of their mother. "No, little ones. It's time to eat." 

**_You don't have to be old to be wise_**   
**_Don't you hear the baby cryin'?_**   
**_Oh yeah...oh yeah....oh yeah...._**   
**_Oh yeah...oh yeah....oh yeah...._**

They all turned to see another figure scaling the rocks. Akela walked down, and stopped in front of her cubs. Darwin whimpered, and hid behind Eliza. "Don't look at me!" He shook with fear. The cubs trotted over to their mother, and they all seemed excited. "Eliza wants us to race." A female cub said. Akela's eyes widened, then narrowed a tad bit. "The plains are too dangerous for little ones like you." A look of concern appeared on her face as she lowered her head. Her ears perked up when she heard Eliza say, "But Akela, I will be with them." The cubs quickly ran towards the girl, and she gave them all a hug. "I'd never let anything happen." She gave Akela a reassuring smile. "You can trust me." "Please mom?" "Please?" The young cubs started pleading with their mother. She still didn't agree to it, but she decided to let it go. "Okay. Eliza. But keep an eye on them. And don't go past the Akasha tree!" She gave the girl a stern look before walking off into the distance. 

Eliza, Tally, and his sisters quickly made their way to the other side of the cliff. Eliza ran ahead, getting further away from the cubs. Acting like they were on a hunt, the cubs slowly stalked the girl, and when the time was right they pounced. Eliza giggled as she fell to the ground, the cubs sitting on her and giving her licks on the face. She gently pushed them off, and ran ahead again. "Try and catch me, slowpokes!" She cried playfully. The cubs caught up rather quickly, and Eliza purposely fell onto the ground. She allowed the 3 cubs to surround her. She didn't notice that they passed the tree. But Darwin had. The chimpanzee, looking on in shock, yelled, "Eliza, you passed the Akasha tree!" He pointed at the tree. Eliza looked, and scoffed. "Just barely. Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Eliza and her friends continued to run through the Savannah. But then, all of a sudden, a horrible man-made noise broke the beautiful silence of nature. A gunshot! 

BLAM! The sound echoed through the air. The very sound stopped Eliza and the cubs in their tracks. The young girl, shaking, slowly looked up. She narrowed her eyes, and saw the figure of a dark-colored helicopter heading their way. It had a bright white search light, scanning the plains. Eliza breathed quickly, and managed to shout to her friends, "RUN!!" They didn't need to be told twice. Eliza and the 2 cheetah cubs started running away towards safety. But Tally stayed behind. He looked up, and saw the helicopter. Panicking, he turned and ran away. But his feet couldn't carry him fast enough, and soon he was bathed in the light, fully exposed as he ran along the plains. Eliza stopped and realized something was wrong. She turned around, and saw Tally backing away from something. "Oh no..Tally!" She ran towards the young cub. Darwin called out after her, "Eliza!" But she ignored him. 

A rope ladder was dropped from the flying machine. A man slowly climbed out, and he climbed down the ladder. One had holding onto the ladder, he used the other to reach down. Tally realized what the man was going to do, and he quickly turned around to run. But before he could do anything, he felt the man roughly grab him by the scruff of his neck. Eliza quickly ran up to him, shouting, "Tally!" She grabbed Tally by his front paws and starting pulling background. She tried to use her feet to stop, but the man was too strong, and the helicopter was moving too fast. She was being dragged along with them! Akela had heard the gunshot and went to take a look. The sight of her only son being dragged off the ground was horrifying. Shaking with disbelief, she screamed, "NO!" She made a run towards the helicopter just as Eliza lost her grip and fell to the ground. Akela, yowling with fury, leaped in front of her, and landed on the man's back. 

The man shouted angrily and tried to get the mother cheetah off of him. Akela yowled again, and scratched into his back, cutting his jacket. Eliza watched as Akela struggled to get her cub back. But she couldn't hang on for long, and fell to the ground. Eliza gasped, and then saw something. The helicopter was heading straight for some tall rocks. She might be able to get up to them. She ran towards the rock formation, and started to climb upwards. It was tiring, but she still managed to get to the top just as the ladder flung over head. She swallowed, and then jumped high into the air, and managed to grab onto the ladder. She screamed in surprise as she felt herself swaying from side to side on the rope ladder. She looked up at the man with determination in her eyes. 

Back on the ground, turns out Eliza was not the only one who heard the gunshot. Nigel and Marianne, riding in the Congo-Com, left to see what was going on. But when they saw their daughter hanging around 20 feet or so above the ground, their minds panicked. "Eliza!" Marianne shouted. She pressed hard on the pedals, and the Congo-Com went faster. But she knew she couldn't reach Eliza on time. The helicopter was just too high, and if Eliza fell, they couldn't catch her without hurting her. Up above, Eliza began to climb up towards the man. "Give him back!" She stopped as he turned towards the girl. He quickly grabbed the searchlight, and shined it in her eyes, an attempt to make her let go. But she never let go. She hung on, and turned her head way from the light. Blinded for a moment, she said in desperation, "He's only a baby!" After the light thing didn't work, the man slowly moved down the ladder towards the girl. Seeing this, Nigel grabbed the radio attached to the Congo-Com. 

"Debbie, we need you to bring the Commvee straight away!" He could hear Debbie give a short laugh, a mocking laugh. "Yeah, right, and how am I supposed to do what when I'm grounded? I am grounded, remember?" Marianne snarled in anger. She grabbed the radio from her husband's hand, and barked into it. "Debbie, NOW!" Eliza's eyes widened with fear as the man was now just above her. She still couldn't see his face. The light was so bright that his face was almost pitch black. He lifted up his foot and pressed it hard into the girl's hand. He twisted his foot from side to side, causing pain for the girl. Eliza closed her eyes tightly, and grunted with pain. She looked up, and could see the knife in his boot. It was golden-colored and had the body of a falcon carved into it. She finally let go, and nearly fell down. But she still hung on. The man started to climb up towards the top, and placed Tally inside the helicopter. "Oh, no you don't." Eliza said and she climbed up towards the helicopter. 

Another pair of lights shined onto the Savannah. The Commvee, driven by an out of control Debbie, swerved across the plains. Things were being tossed around inside, including Cordelia. Hanging on for dear life, she fought her way up to the teenager. "Debbie, slow down immediately!" She shouted sternly as they turned around to avoid animals. The animals were trying to avoid getting hit. Debbie was driving too fast. "Sorry, grandmumsy." The teenager shrugged as she smirked towards the horizon. "Dad's orders!" At the back of the Commvee, Donnie, wearing a bowl on his head, suddenly jumped up in front of the Debbie, and grabbed his shorts, and pulled up. He moved back and forth wildly, and Debbie tried to see where she was going. "Donnie! This is no time for the wedgie dance!" She looked at her grandmother. "Will _somebody_ do something?!" "Somebody? We'll discuss your impertinence later, young lady!" She almost gagged when the young boy she had grabbed licked her on the cheek. 

A voice came in over the radio. Debbie looked attentively at it, awaiting her next orders. The voice was her father's. "Debbie, follow that helicopter." Debbie looked up, and she and Cordelia saw a figure hanging from a ladder. They knew who it was right away because of the pigtails. "Not again..." Debbie muttered under her breath. Eliza was always getting into trouble. She shifted gears and sped up. "Why couldn't I have had a sister who played with dolls?" Eliza continued to climb up. Soon she wasn't very far away from the entrance of the helicopter. The man noticed her and gasped. Just before Eliza reached the final rope of the ladder, the man pulled his foot back and kicked her in the jaw. Yelping in pain, Eliza flung backwards, and fell down. She grabbed onto the rope ladder again and continued to climb up. The man grunted in fury that the girl would not let go. He reached towards his feet, and quickly pulled out the falcon knife and raised it up, the tip of the blade shining in the light. 

Nigel and Marianne, watching in horror as their daughter hung on for dear life, finally reached the Commvee. Nigel climbed out of his seat, and prepared to make a jump for it towards the Commvee's open window. Marianne closed in on the vehicle, trying to get close enough for her husband to jump over. Finally the naturalist leaped towards the window and grabbed on. Poking his head through the window, he greeted his mother. "Hello, mumsy. Having a jolly holiday?" Of course, he knew the answer was no. After Donnie gave her another lick, Cordelia grabbed him and put him on the ground. She then put her hands on her hips, and said, "Nigel, we need to discuss your children's manners." Nigel pulled himself further into the vehicle, straining to reach the buttons. "We're equally as proud, mumsy. But now's not the time." He quickly pushed a red button, and the top of the Commvee inflated like a balloon to cushion Eliza's fall. 

The man sliced through one side of the rope ladder. It swung wildly to one side. Eliza hung on the best that she could. The man growled in frustration, and lowered himself down a bit. He looked at Eliza's arm, and then pressed the cold blade against her hand. He then moved the blade quickly to one side, and Eliza screamed in pain. A thin, deep cut appeared on her right hand, and the blood started dripping down her hand. The man climbed back into the helicopter. In too much pain, Eliza slipped, and finally lost her footing. Screaming, she plummeted towards the ground below. She lost sight of the man and the helicopter as she landed on the Commvee's inflated back. "My baby!" She heard her mom shout as she then started to fall off the edge of the swerving Commvee. Fortunately, an awning opened up before she landed in the hard ground below her. The Commvee slowly stopped in the plains, and her family looked at her with worry. Akela finally stopped running. She needed to catch some breath. "My baby...." She whispered as the helicopter disappeared from view, and her head lowered in despair. Sorrow was deep in her mind...She had lost her only son. Eliza hung her head, and knew it was all her fault. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They had returned back to camp. The fire blazed brightly and Marianne wet down a white bandage. The cut was still bleeding on Eliza's hand. The small girl was desperate to find her cheetah cub friend. "Mom, dad! I have to find those poachers!" She cried out in desperation. "Eliza!" Her mother scolded as she wrapped the bandage around her daughter's injured hand, and tightened it so the blood would clot. "You were almost killed. You better let Jomo take care of them." But the young girl wasn't about to give in. It was her fault that Tally was stolen. The least she could do was help find him. "I have to find Tally." She said, then quickly covered her mouth. She realized her mistake. She may have given away her powers already, but wait...she could probably think of something fast. Her parents looked at each other, obviously confused. "Who?" "That's what I named the cheetah cub." Jomo nodded, and jotted something down on a piece of paper. Cordelia was very surprised, "She _names_ wild animals?" Debbie, who was sitting in a hammock, reading her magazine, laughed. "Names them, plays with them, and talks in monkey to them." "Debbie, stop it." Marianne warned her blonde daughter. 

Jomo walked up to Eliza and asked her a simple question. "Can you describe the poacher, Eliza?" The girl winced, and lowered her head. The light was so bright that she was never able to see the man's face. "No," She shook her head, "he shined a light in my eyes." But then she remembered something. It wasn't much, but it could help narrow down the list of who could have done it. "But I saw his knife! The handle, it was carved into the shape of a falcon! That'll help find them, won't it?" She looked at Jomo hopefully, a desperate smile on her face. But that soon faded, as the old black man slowly shook his head doubtfully. "There are many knives, many poachers." The man turned and walked away, putting away the pad of paper and pen. Eliza bolted from her seat. "But I have to find Tally!" Jomo turned around, and walked back to Eliza. Placing his hands on her shoulder, he told her, "Leave this to us. Promise me that you'll never go out on the Savannah at night." Eliza lowered her head. She tried to sound convincing. "I promise." Jomo smiled before walking away. "Good girl." 

Looking at his old friend, Nigel, he said, "We will inform you if we hear anything." He shook Nigel's hand, and then disappeared into his jeep and drove off. Nigel and Marianne waved to him. Marianne turned and looked at Eliza. Her hands on her hips, she warned Eliza that she must keep her promise, and not go into the Savannah at night. Debbie overhears and scoffs. She sat up from her hammock. "Yeah right. She and Darwin _always_ sneak off!" "WHAT?!" Cordelia yelped, nearly fainting at the words. Marianne and Nigel gasped and look wide-eyed at Debbie, then Eliza, then back at Debbie. "This happened before?" Marianne whispered softly. Eliza snarled, "_DEBBIE_!!" The teenager shrugged her shoulders, and climbed out of the hammock. "Hey, I didn't tell them you snuck off this time, and look what happened!" Turning to her parents, she said, "Did you know that she once fed a Komodo Dragon one of my protein bars? And back in...whatever-land...she_ rode_ a Siberian Tiger. Oh, and ask her about the time she was dancing with a bunch of crazy dingoes!" 

After hearing the shocking news, Cordelia sat down in a chair, and rubbed her forehead. "Oh my..." Nigel gasped, and looked at his redhead daughter. "_Eliza_!" He shouted in horror. Marianne paled, and then ran over to her daughter. She gripped Eliza's shoulders, and stared at her straight in the eyes. "Eliza, is this true?" Gulping, the young girl found it difficult to lie right in her mother's face. They were gonna find out sooner or later anyway. Sulking in defeat, she closed her eyes, and nodded her head. "Yes." She whispered sadly. Marianne straightened up in shock, and she gasped sharply. She looked at her husband, who was equally as surprised. She didn't know who else to turn to. "Nigel, I don't know what to do..." She looked at her daughter with worry. Cordelia shot out from her seat, and walked over to them. "I do!" She glared at Eliza in a scolding manner. "It's obvious that Elizabeth has no regards for her own safety." She looked at the parents. "We've discussed this for _years_! She needs to be in a structured environment, one like a boarding school back in London." 

She walked up into the Commvee, but was stopped abruptly when the other daughter yelped, "She messes up, and _she_ gets to go to Boarding School?!" She pointed at Eliza as she said this. Nigel, surprised by this suggestion, walks over to Cordelia to try and reason to her. But it wasn't going to work, and he knew it. Still, he had to try. "Don't you think that's...._too_ drastic?" He eyed Eliza, but Cordelia says that he, Nigel, received his education not in the wild, but at a Boarding School. "Do you think it's civilized for a girl to play with _cheetahs_ and _chimpanzees_?" She was about to disappear into the Commvee when Debbie jumped onto the table. "HELLO!" She yelled, and began acting like a chimpanzee. She then stood up, and grabbed her hair. "Do _I_ look civilized?!" Cordelia shook her head, "No, but it's too late for you." Debbie looked at her wide-eyed as she went into the Commvee, and collapsed to her knees in defeat. 

Eliza ran to her parents. "I can't go to Boarding School! What about Tally?!" She yelled at her parents, and was still willing to risk it all to save her friend. Marianne looked at Eliza, a look of fear and love on her face. "Eliza, we make these rules for a reason...We can't let you go up against men with guns...If we have to send you away to keep you safe, then we will." She wiped away a tear, and let her daughter go. She looked away shamefully. The girl, almost in tears, pleaded to her father, her eyes widened in desperation. "Dad? _Please_?" Nigel breathed in slowly. He knew his mom was right. Eliza had almost lost her life again. He wasn't going to let it happen again. Looking at his daughter, he said, "Your intentions are noble, Eliza. But you're too young." He bent down, and embraced his youngest daughter in a hug. "I'm sorry." He could feel Eliza sobbing into his shoulder, and he hugged her tighter. Marianne walked over, and gave Eliza a hug as well, and she was not any less upset than they all were. Debbie hid her sadness very well, still upset that she couldn't go to Boarding School herself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Marianne and Nigel had gotten dressed for the night. They were unwilling to send Eliza away, but according to Cordelia, it was the best option that they had. They decided to listen to her this time. Marianne looked at the album book, flipping through pages and pages of family photos. She smiled sadly, remembering those times...back when they didn't travel around the world. She couldn't bare not ever starting this career, and she strongly believed it was okay for the kids to come along. But after tonight..when Eliza was almost done in by deadly poachers...she was having second thoughts. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring them along after all. "Nigel, we promised that we wouldn't split up the family." She closed the album book, and set it aside. "We'd keep the children with us..." She closed her eyes for a brief second, and looked at her husband. The man got into bed with his wife. "You heard Eliza...She blames herself for this. She will try and find Tally again." Marianne smiled, and hugged Nigel. "She takes after you." The man chuckled, and blushed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Darwin and Eliza next to each other in the tent. Eliza stuffed some clothes into her bag, and sat down in her sleeping bag. Darwin growled, "Boarding School? I've never heard of anything so stupid! Did anyone ask _my_ opinion?" He rolled onto his side. Eliza nodded sadly, and then looked out into the distance. "Sometimes I wish I could tell them I can talk to animals." She said softly, but Darwin heard her. The chimpanzee yelped and nearly jumped from his sleeping bag. "_NO_!" He screeched. "Then you'll lose your power!" He chewed on his fingernails in nervousness. "Then we won't be able to understand each other again...How will I know what Debbie's saying about me?" Eliza sighed, and lowered herself down. "Don't worry, I won't break the rule. I promised Mnyambo." "Good." Darwin looked at his shorts, and blushed meekly. "About this Boarding School..." He rolled back into his sleeping bag, and zipped it up. "They won't make me take gym class, will they? 'Cause those tight shorts show off my...problem area." He dared not to say the word. Then he heard Eliza gasp. "What is it?" "You can't come with me, Dar..." At first, Darwin stared at her for a few seconds, and then, suddenly, screamed loudly, and ran out of the tent. 

Horrified by this sudden display, Eliza bolted out of her tent just as her dad was coming out of the Commvee. "DARWIN, COME BACK!" She yelled after the chimp, but Darwin vanished out of sight. Nigel was quite surprised as well, and saw his daughter out of her tent. "What's wrong with Darwin?" Eliza sank down to the ground, looking into nothingness. "He figured out I was leaving. He saw me pack my bags..." Nigel bent down and comforted his daughter. "I see." He pulled out a laptop and set it down in front of them. Eliza watched as he typed in an address, and went to a web site. It showed a map of Africa, and he pointed to a specific spot. "This is where we're headed in a few days." Eliza looked up at her father. "Yeah, I remember mom telling me that you're gonna film the forest elephants. But why are they so hard to find?" Nigel sighed. "It's because of the forest. It's quite dense, actually. But the other reason is because poachers hunt them for their ivory tusks." Eliza's hands formed into clenched fists. "I hate poachers..." 

Nigel nodded in understanding. He understood Eliza's anger. "I understand. I went up against poachers once myself...to save an elephant." He turned back to the screen, and thought to himself. Wanting to change the subject, he said, "There's an old BaAka legend that foretells that every thousand years, over a thousand elephants gather during the eclipse." Eliza gasped in astonishment, watching the screen in front of her show an eclipse effect over the area called Tembo Valley. She looked at her father, then looked back at the screen. "Why do they do it?" "No one knows." He closed the laptop, and set it aside. "But I plan on witnessing it. There's an eclipse in Tembo Valley." Eliza looked at the ground, sadness clouding her mind. She leaned against the tree stump in front of them. "I wish I could see it with you..." She murmured. She looked down sadly. Nigel sighed sadly. He remembered something, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a medal, and put it around Eliza's neck. "Here, I received this medal when I was your age." 

The young girl stared at the medal, and smiled weakly. "Awarded for bravery?" She stared at her father, who blushed nervously. He put his head on his hand, and shook his head slowly. "It was nothing....a blazing school bus...never mind." He looked up at the night sky. It was getting late. It was almost time for Eliza to go to sleep. Tomorrow she had to leave. Tonight was her last night with him. He looked at her, and said, "You will have your own challenges, poppit." He hugged her tightly. "And I predict you will meet them splendidly." Eliza looked at her father sadly, and hugged her father back. She closed her eyes, and started to cry. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay there, with her family. She also wanted to find her best friend, Tally. He was still with those awful poachers. But she couldn't do anything about it now. She couldn't go against her parents' intentions now. There was no way about of it. The night sky darkened, almost as if it sensed her sadness as well...And somewhere..Tally was praying to himself, hoping that Eliza would find him. "Please find me...." He whispered, before the darkness set in.   


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Okay, that's the end of chapter one. So how is it so far? This might take a long time to get done. I'm hoping to get it finished within a year at least. XD I'm so wrapped up in other fanfiction. I'll try to finish the others I've started. Sadly, I won't be doing any Chalk Zone fanfics for a while. The reason is because there are so many fanfics I want to write, and I already have so much on my plate, if you know what I mean. I'll try to finish the next chapter soon. The next chapter will probably last until after Eliza has that dream...But I'm not positive. Oh, and I have an idea for the last chapter of Hybrid 2. All I will say that it will involve a character that will play a bigger role in Hybrid 3. ^_^ 


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